


Belle Monde

by Ghostoshima



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Gen, Other, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-01-16 23:46:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1366168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostoshima/pseuds/Ghostoshima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years have passed and Yuna is learning the importance of moving on. She learns of a new continent on the other side of the world, as well as of a mysterious woman named Ifalna through her father's journal. Through her travels she learns of many things - new threats, new lessons, and new love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start

**Author's Note:**

> Originally on FF.net. I decided to post this here as well as my Ao3 account's been collecting nothing but dust. At least I can contribute with this.  
> Sorry if I seem a little new to everything here, I'll explain this takes place after Final Fantasy X-2's common ending and a little after Advent Children. Some things have been altered and therefore take a different route (such as Spira and Gaia being part of the same 'universe').

There were a few things she couldn't seem to understand—one seemed to be about these strange rumors of a race other than the Al Bheds, of an old race capable of communicating with the earth beneath their feet, with the planet itself. Another of a more 'technology advanced' continent, that even the Al Bhed have come to wonder about in both envy and amazement. But again, they were nothing but rumors. There were many secrets of this world, and she has yet to explore it all. Though Yuna hadn't thought about it at all, nor had she known of the existence of how large her world can exactly be. It all started with a journal.

One sunny, silent, and slow day, Yuna raided through her parents' old belongings locked away in a chest hidden somewhere in the temple, pesky thing was always hard to open though. However one day, as if by some miracle, she found the key to the lock in her _own_ belongings. Sadly, being occupied with saving her homeland, with personal issues that seemed to have been added to that, along with maintaining her "celebrity" status and tending to others had her too busy to really give her enough time to do anything for herself anymore. But now, she was able to find that missing key to her parents' chest as it was tugged away in her old things, and now, she was able to open said chest and explore every inch of it. It was nice to step back and visit memory lane. While most of their past had been troubled due their race and many criticisms among their society, they were good people, they were her _parents_ from what little she remembers of them.  
The chest contained small trinkets, fabrics, clothing, and even photographs of the past and familiar faces, including a couple of her parents.  
Though there was a photo in particular she didn't seem to quite understand, a face she had never seen before, along with scenery that seemed so unfamiliar, and she could tell, there was something really different about this picture.

A single woman smiled in the picture, she donned strange yet simple looking clothing, such as a red dress with a purple sash tied to the waist. Parts of her long, thick light brown wavy hair flowed in the wind, and she viewed the younger woman with her blue eyes; it certainly caught Yuna's attention. But…who was she? Why had there been a photo of her in her parents' belongings? Clearly, it was someone either of them knew. Then, she found her father's journal; a small, leather book with crisp pages smooth and soothing to the touch, the scent brought back a lot of blurred memories that ran through her mind, memories that she desperately tried to remember – it was her father's scent. It's been so long, her emotions build up inside her, practically leaving her in tears. She opened and took note at how fragile the pages were, how yellowed they had been with old age; she could still make out the words just fine though...  
It mostly told of daily everyday things at Bevelle, trouble at Bevelle, and spoke of her Al Bhed mother too. A beautiful and understanding woman who seemed to radiate with kindness and creativity that somehow separated her from other women he's come with contact with. She hadn't cared nor judged him for who he was as the Al Bhed and Yevonites had always done with each other, all that mattered was that she was there for him, that she cared and listened. That was what Braska wrote in his journal. She felt her heart overwhelming again, her father had written passages of his life that she could drink in and it felt wonderful.

Yuna turned each page with care, she continued to read, her finger brushing against every word written on each page, and then she paused. A particular name had been written upon the page with her father's handwriting – Ifalna. It was a beautiful but a name she hadn't heard of before, a name she hadn't recognized at all from any stories of her father or anyone among her. In the writing, it said Ifalna was friendly, creative, funny, and kinder than the rest of the civilization of the 'land far from Spira'. She was a woman so different from the rest that he could immediately sense it as they first met, a woman with a unique gift that humans have lost centuries ago; she was a Cetra. She kept repeating the word over and over again in her head, any memories of this word had been a complete blur but she knew she had heard this word before in her life, but from where she cannot recall.

As she read on, she learned more of this Ifalna, of her heritage and her abilities, of her relationship with her father and how they came to meet each other. He was lost, others shunned, only one woman actually took the time to speak to him and hear of his questions, in fact, she did much more than that, she befriended him. Braska explained how he felt strangely drawn to her, she was highly different among the rest and he hadn't known why, other than she was incredibly polite and easy to speak with.  
She was just like her, Yuna's mother, whom he had already known at the time. Ifalna reminded him so much of her and that made him miss her even more. So Yuna could rule out that this Ifalna woman had been a past lover to her father but by the way he described her he still cared very much for her as a friend.  
When he arrived in Gaia, a mixture of all sorts of interesting people blended in, different cultures and races had spread around, it was an amazing sight; it was then that Yuna had learned the technology rumors had been true. Though this 'vacation' had its up and its downs – people knew how different Braska had been, how different he dressed and looked, they often glared at him for it. But Ifalna didn't. Eventually Braska had returned to his own homeland of Spira to meet up with Yuna's mother again, it was then he had decided that no matter how different he was to her, no matter how different she was to him, and no matter how many living creatures populated this large, large world they have yet to explore entirely – he loved her, so he proposed to her.

Other pages far ahead continued to mention usual things, conflict caused by her parents' engagement, letters in which he wrote to Ifalna that often arrived weekly as best as they could. Letters…  
Yuna's mismatched colored eyes left the pages of the journal looking back at the chest that contained the old belongings, her hand brushed away a cloth and pushed aside knickknacks, a pile of envelopes lied stacking beneath one another. "Are these the letters…?" She murmured to herself, plucking the first one from the pile, her father's name had been written on the front in feminine writing. This had to be it; this had to be the letter that Braska spoke of. Gently, she opened up the envelope, taking the parchment out and unfolding it, she immediately began to scan the words written there.

_Braska,_  
 _I hope this reached you, I have no clue how the courier will manage to travel all the way to Spira and find you, but I hope this reaches you somehow. It's been silent most of the time but…they've left me alone for now. They've captured me, Braska, imprisoned me for weeks! I couldn't even properly say goodbye to you… It's alright now; I managed to escape with the help of a man, he's a professor. We're traveling up north from here and we'll find somewhere to stay for a while. It is rough being the only one left of my race and for that I am heavily wanted by Shinra. But it's alright though, I'll be fine._  
 _Maybe one day I can visit your home and get to know you and your girlfriend better, it would be nice to escape…_  
 _Take care,_

_Ifalna._

"Shrina…last of her race…" The letter was short and blossomed a lot of questions in Yuna's mind, this only made her reach for the next letter and continue reading.

_Braska,  
You shouldn't worry about me so much, I'm fine now! Professor Gast has found us a place to hide at Icicle Inn. You may have not been there before, you didn't travel too far but it's farther up north up in the mountains. I think you mentioned you had snowy mountains as well…Mount Gagazet, I believe? Oh, well, it's peaceful…for now. I'm glad my last letter got to you though, I was worried it wouldn't. Your letter put me in good spirits; I just hope Shinra doesn't end up tracking down these letters. I might be able to convince Gast to travel further so we can see you. A place that Shinra cannot touch…I know your home has problems too, but anywhere I'm not being pursued is fine by me. _

_I wish to see you again,_

_Ifalna._

_P.S. Congratulations on the engagement!_

Two letters down, another to go…

_I'm so tired,_  
 _Professor Gast recorded me today, and he wanted to hear everything about the Cetra. You remember the stories I told you as well, right? After all, it was just the same story. We spoke so much our throats were sore by the end of the day. You spoke of Sin; I spoke of the Calamity of the Sky…_  
 _We both suffered, our people have suffered together, and we'll continue to suffer, won't we? The Cetra have all come together and tried their best to keep this planet safe, and then our numbers grew limited. It seems that danger is unavoidable sometimes._  
 _I hope your peace returns, I hope I find my own peace too. I am lonely but Gast is with me. You are with me too. I don't know what I would do without you two._

_Ifalna_

…

_Braska,_  
 _it's been a while, I meant to write sooner but so much has happened._  
 _You should know, Gast and I are…very much in love. He understands me like no one else does, kind of like you. He was the only one to help me rather than use me; he cares about me – Ifalna the person, not Ifalna the 'Ancient'. It's only fair that you know, you also have someone very special to you (have you gone through the wedding yet? I would love to hear details!)and I have to tell you that I'm pregnant. I'm already starting to show and knew I had to write you; wanted to tell you as soon as I found out but I recently got your response, and Gast hardly lets me lift a finger, says I need to concentrate on resting, he's so silly sometimes. Braska, do you have children yet? I would like our children to be friends one day; I would like to watch them play together…_  
 _Ifalna_

…

_How are you, have you been busy?  
I just got your letter! You must've been as you sound quite occupied for a priest. I'm so sorry to hear things are still hard for you but I'm sure you'll turn out just fine; after all, things are starting to look up for me. What incredible timing I end up receiving your letter just this morning, I had my baby two weeks ago! It's really been a long time, hasn't it? I've missed speaking with you and maybe now that my daughter is born I can finally convince Gast to travel to Spira to meet up with you again. Don't try to talk me out of it; I've made up my mind! Nor Sin or Shinra can stop me from seeing you. I really want you to meet her…_

_I miss you, and once Aerith is a little older I want to see you again. Will you wait for me?  
Ifalna. _

The letters end there, there hadn't been very many but they had already sparked so much questions, as well as concerns. There was a woman out there – a woman and her daughter who probably never saw Yuna's father again. The letters stopped and she could only assume…he never got the chance to write her back. The letters didn't exactly state a clear date of which they were sent, but she could only theorize that her father simply stopped receiving them, they've developed incredibly busy lives, or he died before he can properly reply to her. A tiny idea popped to her head and she wondered if she could write this woman back…but how would she even begin to find where she might've been? This was the first she heard of the continent called Gaia.

For the longest time, all she wanted and all she needed was another purpose to move forward to.  
Determination lit a fire inside her and she set out of her home, into the sunny island breeze of Besaid Island's day.  
It was time for her to go on a trip.


	2. Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of something new, the beginning a search.

It wasn't easy but she hadn't expected it to be. Yuna came to develop the theory that Ifalna was out there with the daughter from her letters, a woman part of a dying race that had sought escape and comfort from her father. To when he exactly ventured off to this distant and closed off land, she hadn't known, only that it was before she was even born and before her parents were officially together. Had they already known that Braska became a summoner and sacrificed his life for Spira or had this news been lost to them? These are questions she came to memorize as she prepared for her long journey. She took most of the things she would need to take but she had to travel light – a lesson she learned from Lulu about four years ago when she began her pilgrimage. Most importantly, she carried her weapons just in case she ran into any trouble and two photographs – one of Ifalna and one of her parents. She figured if she carried this with her then Ifalna would recognize her father and would actually believe her be the daughter of Braska.

It hadn't been exactly clear on others why she wanted to do this or why she had to, it wasn't even clear to her, but there was extra 'push' that indicated this was something she had to seek out further. It was a whole new environment to explore…as crazy as it sounded, it may have been just the very thing to help her. Not only would she able to find her father's old friend along with her family, she would have a chance to build a new life, she would have a purpose. Had this been a foolish plan though? She received many lectures from Wakka and Lulu, including that following morning of her departure.

"I'll write to you as soon as I can!" She promised, but she had no idea how long the trip would be and just how far away this other land was.  
"You just got back and already you're running off again?" Wakka had his arms crossed to his chest; Lulu was at his side holding onto Vidina by her hip, the small toddler had already grown tall enough to stand on his own and has mastered walking, even if he has to wobble on his stubby feet and often falls down. At Wakka's remark, Yuna had only shaken her head. "It's been two years…" She replied. Two years was long enough for her to settle back in and begin the routine of finding peace within herself, it was enough time for her to move on with her life with Wakka, Lulu, and everyone else in Besaid Island, and in all of Spira itself. But right now, it was time for her to search for her goal…even if she hadn't been exactly clear what that goal was.  
"You have no idea what is out there," Lulu warned, hoisting her son up as he slid down her waist, he watched Yuna with his ruby eyes nibbling on his small fist, those eyes were of his mother's,"yet you want to travel so far?"  
"My father's been there before! According to his journal everything is so different." She took note to avoid talking about the 'advanced machina', despite machina playing a larger role in their society since the Eternal Calm had been granted, Yuna still worried of disappointing of the 'old fashioned' folk, even if her mind had opened up more to a whole different world and culture; she wasn't one to judge. This was a very important lesson many had taught her throughout her whole life. "I can do it, I know I can, you just have to believe in me." It was just like two years ago when she first ran off at the sight of the mysterious sphere that Rikku found and no one was able to stop her. It was just like this now and her friends knew very well it would be hard to get her to back down from this. Yuna was no longer the child she was four years ago, she had grown admirably and became a savor and icon for many people, because of this she chose to stay behind Besaid to tend to everyone, to tend to her friends and their new baby, and to simply live a normal life and offer advice to those who needed it; they depended on her and she couldn't turn them down. But it was Yuna's turn again, it was her turn to do something for herself, yet in a way, she was still doing this for others. She was doing this for her father, and not just him, but Ifalna and her daughter, Aerith, as well.

"Yu..Yun…" Vidina mumbled behind his small fist, his eyes curiously watched Yuna as both his parents had done as well. She could only offer them her most optimistic and sincerest smile. "I love you all and I promise I'll come back." How long she would be gone and how long she would stay at Gaia had been left out on purpose, these were details even she hadn't known yet but once she knew she was sure she would write to them right away. And just like two years ago, Yuna had set off and this time it was on her own; another personal journey with another personal purpose.

Wakka and Lulu had still been very happy to see her to something for herself, yet they continued to try to convince her to think about it more, to bring someone else along (Rikku and Paine had also offered to come) but she couldn't do that as everyone had spread out and developed their own lives, and part of her felt that this was something solely meant for her. She couldn't describe it; it was like a feeling that was drawing her in closer and closer.

* * *

It's been almost an entire week and she had to make due with ride after ride, hitchhike after hitchhike, on Celsius that carried her across the ocean for a good few days till it was time for her to depart once again, on carriages being pulled by chocobos, and strange vehicles that resembled familiar machinas…cars, was it? Trucks. She sat at the back one truck one morning as she was awoken from her sleep by a bumpy road. The surroundings were changing drastically, she didn't exactly realize how long she slept but she was sure the grass had been much…greener…no this area didn't even contain grass – it was just dark plain for miles and miles. This was Gaia? She hadn't been sure anymore, she really should've stopped and asked for directions.

"So where you headed to?" The driver of this strange contraption had asked about a few hours before she got on.  
"Uh…wherever you're headed to is just fine." So with that, she was headed to whatever town this man had been taking her. Yuna should've thought about this more, should've asked him about certain places but as of now, any town or city mentioned by her father had been a blur…Ifalna, Aerith…these were names that were planted in her mind, the most important ones, but there was another one. "Shinra?"  
"Excuse me?" The man had asked from behind her, the small window at the back of the pick-up had been open, made it easier for the two of them to hear each others words and requests.  
"Oh, nothing…I was just…"  
"Did you say Shinra? The company?"  
"You know them?"  
"Who doesn't? They're the world's largest incorporation; they built Midgar, and helped built Edge after Meteor ruined most of it." He hadn't turned to her as he spoke; he kept his eyes on the rocky plains, the blue of the sky above had faded away, dulling to a gray. "You never heard of Shinra before?"

"Well, I've heard of _a_ Shrina…" She spoke of the little Al Bhed boy who joined the Gullwings of course.  
"You mean the President?"  
"President…?"  
"Don't tell me you don't know who President Rufus Shinra is." The girl who sat at the back of his truck certainly gave off a vibe different from the other folk around here, from her looks and her overall sense, she was definitely a foreigner. But Shinra was well known around the whole world, even towns like Wutai had their fair share of Shinra, and thus why they've been bustling with tourists for the past few years.  
"No, no…I've heard of Shinra!" She's only heard very little from Ifalna's letters, all she knew that they were obviously a group somehow, someone who had been after her father's friend for whatever personal reason. It had to do with her race, right? But that was all she knew, her knowledge hadn't been very far from that she had read in the letters, and that hadn't been many.  
"Then you must know of the rumors of how they've 'changed', right? They were the ones who help built Edge after all, and built that monument for Meteor. You've been to Edge, right?"  
"No…it's my overall first time here."  
"We're almost there – it's my last stop so you're going to have to make due on your own for the time being. Will you be alright?"  
But Yuna had ignored his question. "Shinra built Edge so…Shinra must be there, right?"  
"I don't know, not many people like Shinra for all that they've done." If they provoked fear to a woman who was once the friend of her father, she would imagine so. This was her only clue and right now she needed to take it, Shinra was connected to this Edge place, someone was bound to know where they resided, with that clue she can find Ifalna and Aerith.  
Next stop, Edge.

* * *

This city was very unlike any other city she has seen, even the ruins of Zanarkand had felt much livelier and had more color than this; and this was before all the tourists began to fill the entire area. As populated as the streets had been it still felt rather depressing with the grayed up sky, the bulky buildings that seemed to all lack life, and most importantly, what appeared to be homeless citizens sitting among alleys or outside shops looking dreadfully pale and hungry. Unfortunately, she hadn't carried much gil with her and she needed some of it for herself in order to find a room at an inn for the night. But she still offered a little bit of it to an old man covered in a dark cloak that covered all but a wrinkly, fragile hand. He croaked out a thank you and Yuna leaned down to his level, pressing her palms against her knees. "Take care alright?" She said in a soothing, hushed voice but then a shocked gasp escaped the clothed man and the tender smile that had appeared on her face quickly faded away replaced with a confused and lost expression. The young woman turned side to side before finally hurrying away, the old man had remained silent and hadn't uttered another word.

Yuna was a newcomer, she knew this, she was a foreigner and compared to others she was incredibly different, the big contrast between the melancholy feel and that certain 'glow' about her had grabbed the attention of the people around her and she knew it from their stares. Really, she only had one question in mind – where was the president of Shinra?

"Excuse me?" But no matter how hard she tried to talk to someone, to gain their attention, no one would take the time to speak with her. They all shunned her and passed by, some didn't even turn their heads, they probably hadn't heard her speak…or they just didn't trust her. Is everyone in this 'other land' so cold like this? At this rate, she would never get too far, but she needed to try. If asking around didn't work, then maybe she can look around instead? The president shouldn't be too hard to find, especially with such a high rank, though as Yuna continued along the pavement, waving through others, the shoulder of a much taller and burly man had bumped into hers with enough force to send her forward on her side. Instead of helping of her up and apologizing though, he had stepped by as if nothing had happened; he hadn't even turned to look at her. How rude; incredibly rude of some people… and to make matters worse, as Yuna got back on her feet her elbow and knee had been scrapped pretty badly with an angry red patch with fresh blood on each of them, and her skirt, similar to the blue and white sash she wore with her 'Gunner' outfit, had been torn and dirty at the front. Well, this day was starting out just fine.  
"Dammit!" She hissed to herself in a whisper, inspecting the wounds, she needed to get these cleaned up. As she straightened herself out her vision immediately fell upon a small figure—a little girl—who stood a few feet away from her, watching her with gentle brown eyes. Straight cut bangs had hung at the front of her forehead and her hair had been pulled back to a small braid, held at the top with a pink ribbon, her outfit was white, consisting of a sleeveless turtleneck and a long skirt. Unlike the rest of the citizens around here, she had actually acknowledged Yuna; a worry look to her face as her eyes went from Yuna's face to her knee. "You're hurt," she said.  
"No…I-I'll be fine." She put a hand assuring the small girl that nothing was wrong, though her scrapes stung. "I just need to clean them up so they don't get infected…some dirt might have gotten in them but I think I can handle it…" nothing a little healing magic couldn't help right?  
"Does it hurt?"  
"A little but I'm alright."  
The small girl only shook her head, her hands propped themselves on her hips as she looked up at the woman. "You don't need to act, if you're hurt we have to fix it." Before she knew it little fingers had wrapped around her hand and pulled her away from the pavement, Yuna tried to halt and tried to explain to the small girl that she was fine, the scrapes weren't that serious and she had suffered worse. But the two still approached a two story building, at the top there had been the logo – what looked like gold daggers forming into a circle, the black '7th' in the middle had been the most noticeable and around this circle, inside the 'daggers', had been the words 'Seventh Heaven' in red.

The small girl passed through the front doors bringing Yuna along what appeared to be a humble looking bar. A few tables at the front had lined here and there though not too many, many photographs and art; all framed had decorated the walls. At the back had been the bar, a woman in black had casually cleaned up dishes and shot glasses behind the counter, she stopped when she realized Yuna and the little girl had walked in.  
"Marlene, who's…?" It was hard to tell in the lack of light but dark bangs had framed her face, the woman watched the both of them curiously through her dark eyes, almost matching her hair.  
The girl named Marlene had simply shaken her head, clasping both of her hands behind her back. "She's injured."

So the young girl's name is Marlene? The dark haired woman's attention turned from Marlene to Yuna, she noticed the blood on her knee, the dirt on cheek as well as her torn skirt. Most importantly she noticed how distinctive she had been. Her sense of clothing, her jewelry (mostly the sole earring at right side which had consisted of different shades of blue and yellow beads, ending at a soft blue fur at the end), just everything about her had been so distinct from what anyone else in this city.  
"Are you alright?"  
"I-it will be alright." The woman had pulled up a seat from one of the tables nearby, offering it, to which Yuna took without hesitation; she didn't realize how exhausted she felt till now. Of course, she quickly collected herself, offering a polite smile to the woman and thanked her.  
"Don't sweat it, I'll find some bandages, in the meanwhile would you should relax," the woman turned to her back to her, not before looking back, offering her own polite smile as well. "By the way, I'm Tifa."


	3. Glow

Lack of sleep and exhaustion wore out her magical abilities, but Tifa, the owner and bartender of this bar, had dabbed disinfectant on her scrapes leaving her wounds hissing; Yuna made a face at the pain but it quickly soothed away as Tifa bandaged the wounds up. "Are you from around here, Yuna?" The other woman asked, as she gathered the rest of the medical supplies, turning back to walk back up the stairs behind the bar. To the question, Yuna hesitated for a little while, wondering if the truth would be too much or be too threatening. "Far away," she answered, "really, really far away."

Tifa took note of her hesitance, took note of her mild nature, she certainly stood out from the other citizens of this city. The more she thought about it, the more she came to realize it was hard to find someone like Yuna among these parts, and she's been throughout the entire world – well, almost—and she has never met someone that resembled the young woman who sat by her table, sipping away at some juice. She had offered some alcohol in place but Yuna had turned it down either way.  
"Are you from anywhere specifically, I mean." And again, Yuna responded with a moment of silence.  
"Spira…"  
"Spira?" Now Tifa was most certain she has never been to any Spira before, in fact, this was the first she has ever heard of it. Another question came to mind but the sound of a ringing jingle had interrupted her before she could, a curious jingle that had peeked Yuna's curiosity. "Oh, there goes Cloud's phone again…" Tifa sighed heavily before departing up the stairs, and Yuna was left to wonder what a 'phone' exactly was.

To her side had been Marlene, who sipped on her own cup of juice as well and carefully watched Yuna with wonder. She smiled at her, overhearing the conversation going on in the other room –"Strife Delivery Service, you name it, we deliver it."—Marlene smiled back at her, though her gesture had been gentler. "It doesn't hurt anymore." Yuna assured the child but she wasn't so sure that's the thought that occupied her mind. Many question had ran through her own like – "who's Cloud…and w-what was that thing that made that noise?"  
"The phone?"  
"Phone…" Yuna repeated this, sounding out the word real carefully, it felt weird on her tongue, and sounded weird through the ears of the small girl. Marlene couldn't quite understand why the older lady had been as confused by something as simple as a phone, and why she called them these strange names such as 'spheres'. That's what Yuna called the television on the wall – "it reminds me of the spheres back at home. They're the same, aren't they? They look different—so flat and on a screen…" Marlene figured 'sphere' was just another word for 'television' from where Yuna came from. On Yuna's side, she was intrigued, the rumors of 'highly advanced machina and machinery' had been true, and she had now witnessed it with her very own eyes. But this land had been so different from Spira; it was hard to believe they were of the same world. Now that the fascination of technology had passed, Marlene was ready to answer her other question about Cloud, but before she could speak, Tifa had already descended down the stairs. "We get a lot of calls when Cloud's out making deliveries, this customer didn't even have his cell phone number…it should be on his card…" The words left off at a mutter directed to herself rather than anyone else, she returned to table where Yuna and Marlene sat. "Everything okay here?"

"Yes, er," Yuna lifted her head up to view the stairs, then Tifa again. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh it's nothing, just another customer."  
"You make deliveries as well?" Yuna felt quite impressed with the business establishment here.  
"Sort of, Cloud does all the deliveries, and I just manage the bar, though I do help him out sometimes – customers need booze delivered too. Do you have a job, Yuna?"  
"Uh…well…not right now," the twenty one year old admitted truthfully. "But I do have enough gil to pay for the juice!" Hopefully for a room for the night as well.  
"The juice doesn't cost much but just in case we also accept and trade with other items. Are you hungry by any chance?"  
There hadn't been much food on Yuna's travels, she took what she could and salvaged it to her best, the trip took days and she found herself running low on her food till she had nothing left but small snacks and a piece of fruit and that had been her breakfast in the morning before she was picked up by the man in the pick-up truck. "Oh, I couldn't," she didn't carry much useful items with her other than her personal belongings, still her stomach had growled from its hunger. "I guess one meal couldn't hurt."

* * *

A gentle breeze blew right through him, spikes of blond hair fluttered back as he leaned back against Fenrir, inspecting the missing calls to his cellular phone. Most of them had been from Tifa but an unknown number was displayed at the top to be his newest missed call. He immediately began inspecting his voice mail to find what he had expected to find: the voice mail of his newest costumer.

This was Cloud's delivery job, to travel, to answer phone calls, and to call back to numbers of those he accidentally missed. It was ordinary, it was a repeat, but it was right; there hadn't been a worry, Geostigma was gone, no big threat had shown itself for a while now…it was fine. But despite the peace he felt now, he knew it was only temporary. After he finished his call with his newest costumer Cloud had snapped his phone shut and stashed it to his pocket, his delivery to Chocobo Farm was done and he was ready to head back to 7th Heaven; to his home. The costumer lived somewhere around Edge, and had asked for bottles of Corel Wine for a party – should be easy enough. Though as he reviewed the delivery in his mind another screaming thought kept distracting him from his work, it was the thought that constantly sneaked its way past his barriers and into his mind. Peace was temporary, Sephiroth may have disappeared once again, but he was still out there, Jenova was still out there and as long as 'she' was around, so would Sephiroth. He knew well enough that this would never go away unless he found a way to ultimately finish things once and for all, only then would the world and his life be granted its eternal peace.

The wind slapped against him as he rode back to Edge, thinking heavily on that one specific thought and problem. Sometimes he could still hear him, hear those final words before he departed into nothing leaving behind black feathers.  
 _"I will never be a memory."_  
He was bound to Sephiroth, bound by Jenova cells along with every remaining 'failed' experimental puppet out there; Cloud was bound to this 'curse' for life.

* * *

Arriving back had taken roughly around thirty minutes, the clean smelling wind had faded away, the blue sky had lost its color, and the green scenery disappeared as he came upon grayed up plain. Cloud had arrived to his city, waving through other automobiles; slowing down for crossing civilian and making his way back to 7th Heaven. As the bar came to view, he parked Fenrir and silently slipped inside, there were no customers today except for a young looking brunette who spooned in mouthfuls of what looked like Tifa's popular stew into her mouth; she did this rather eagerly as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. She had been the only person in the room at the moment, distracted with her meal to really notice Cloud silently close the door behind him. It wasn't till then that she finally noticed his presence and she turned around to look at him, her mouth full of food, and her face reddening.

Oh how embarrassing, this man had walked in on her scarfing down food like there was no tomorrow, she couldn't help it though, she had been pretty hungry due to her lack of proper meals that day. The spoon dropped from her hand and landed in the bowl with a _clink!_ She swallowed the food in her mouth and smiled turning to the man with spiked up blond hair and _glowing_ blue eyes. Yes, his eyes were certainly something that caught her attention, and it was certainly the first she's seen since her arrival here. Despite her greeting smile toward him, he hadn't returned it; he blinked watching her with interest before finally breaking eye contact as he headed right for the bar. Yuna immediately thought he was here for a drink but was surprised when he stepped behind it and approached the stairs instead.  
"You're back so early." She heard Tifa call from the top, the dark haired woman descended, her arms folding across her chest. "Did you check back with that costumer? It seems more of them keep calling while you're away; they do have your cell phone number, right?" The reminder of their conversation had been hard to make out, the blond man spoke quite softly and hardly said much; once they were finished he walked right past Tifa and up the stairs, leaving Yuna to finish the rest of her meal behind. "Friendly," she said amusingly to herself but the other woman still overheard.  
"He is, he's just has a lot on his mind lately." With everything that went on a little over a year ago, and with the way things were in general, it wouldn't be very surprising that Cloud still brooded over his past mistakes and old enemies that had still existed somewhere within their planet, hiding and waiting. But Tifa knew despite all of this Cloud did his best to move on with his life and make something out of his business. "Oh that's right! You don't even know who he is. That was Cloud, he helps with the bar sometimes."

So that was the Cloud she heard of earlier, the one with the phone, the one with the extra room upstairs, the one with a delivery business. Yuna had to admit to herself, she hadn't expected someone who stood out so much. From his hair, those eyes, and the dark clothing along with a black sash that covered up his left side, his left shoulder covered by a pauldron with a wolf badge on its front. His sense of style had reminded her a lot of Paine and Lulu, though not quite as dark.  
"Cloud." Yuna repeated once, to herself, and eventually went back to the stew in her bowl. After a few minutes, by the time she finished her meal, Cloud had approached the first floor again; Tifa, who had been behind the counter, had reached down and placed four bottles of wine out for him.  
"Four Coral Wines just as you asked for." She stuffed the bottles into a large, brown paper bag and handed it to the blond man. Yuna had looked up from her empty dish in gentle confusion.  
"Who would want so much alcohol?"  
"Partygoers and sad lonely men," there was a slight smirk to Cloud's face. "Take your pick." With the bag at hand, he turned back to head out – so he wasn't completely cold.

As Cloud had been on his delivery run, Yuna had helped herself to another bowl of stew, carelessly setting the thought of price for her meal aside in her mind at the moment. She was just happy to be getting something in her stomach to make up all those days she had to carefully ration her food and gil during her travels, she hadn't realized she would be running so low already. "I have enough…for maybe a week." A week was good but she hadn't known just how long she would stay here and she needed more gil for the ride home eventually, meaning she was stuck.  
"Er, Tifa?" The woman behind the counter immediately turned her attention to Yuna. "I don't suppose you need any help around here by any chance?" Since she was here she might as well take up some odd jobs to help her in the gil department.  
"Help? Take a look around you," Tifa gestured to the entire empty bar excluding the two of them, "business hasn't been doing so good…but maybe there is something you can do."

* * *

If a job was what she needed then a job Tifa would give her, but for now she hadn't need much help especially with the lack of customers. She had Yuna help clean up the dishes as well as the entire bar for now, the two of them spent the rest of the day sweeping at the floor and cleaning up countertops and tables. It hadn't been much but it certainly earned her a couple more gil to help her stay for an extra few days at a local inn that Tifa recommended – and the food was on the house.

"I can't thank you enough." Yuna was able to stay just a little longer with the small amount of gratitude she received, all in one place in this grayed up environment. But it was then, like a light switch flicking on, she remembered just why she _exactly_ came here. "Oh…right." She was so caught up and worried with gil that she completely forgot the original reason that inspired her journey here in the first place. "Tifa, I need to ask you something."  
"What is it?" Tifa had just finished stacking the dried and clean dishes away when she turned to Yuna.  
"It's important; I've traveled all the way here because I'm looking for someone." She didn't know how she would go on about it, she didn't know if she would ask of the Cetra or of Shinra first. "I'm looking for a woman…" But what were the odds that this person in an entire sea of different people would know of this one woman and her daughter? "Aerith." The name left her on its own accord and before she can even pull back Tifa had turned to her, brown-red eyes heavily focused on her; the name obviously held some meaning to her. "I'm looking for Aerith." There was a long pause between the two women, Tifa remained silent and once she broke contact with Yuna she blinked and sighed, turning away. However, before she could answer, her attention was immediately drawn to the doorway where a peculiar blond had stood by, watching the two.  
Cloud remained at the doorway, not budging an inch, not speaking; his expression remained frozen and emotionless. ****


	4. Truth

The delivery to his customer's party was simple and easy enough, he hadn't been too far, and it didn't take too long to proceed back to the bar. As soon as Cloud pushed right past the front door, her name reached his ears, practically leaving them burning. "Aerith."

Cloud had walked into 7th Heaven that following evening, Tifa and the costumer from earlier were having a conversation when that name was spoken from the other young woman. Tifa's dark brown-red eyes had fixed right onto Cloud as he stood by the doorway, the other woman had turned back; she watched him as well. His expression remained unreadable and all he could wonder was how she came to know that name. It couldn't be, could it?  
"You know Aerith…?"  
"I…" The woman dragged her sentence, blinking mismatched eyes of green and blue. "I've heard of her."

Aerith was known as the last of her race, the only who knew that had been Shinra, her adoptive mother, and of course, Cloud and his team. So how did she come to know Aerith? Were they old friends?  
"I…I was brought here through her letters…through a woman named Ifalna. She wrote to my father a long time ago, they were friends, and I was hoping I could meet her if I came here." Tifa and Cloud hadn't known what to believe as they heard the foreigner's explanation – the mention of their late friend's mother who had been a friend of her father's, someone who had actually came to visit from so far away that he still couldn't quite figure out where she could even come from. But it has _been so long,_ did she really hope to find Ifalna now?  
"Aerith…she mentioned her in her letters. She said she wanted my father to meet her but..." Green and blue eyes blinked, focusing on the floor beneath them. "But my father passed away before she could even do that, I was only seven at the time." But they weren't interested in hearing her life story, she was sure."I just want to make sure that Ifalna and Aerith know what has happened to him while I still have the chance to speak to them. You must know who they are," she judged by their reactions to her mentioning, "so that can only mean I am a step closer. Please lead me to Ifalna and Aerith." Though deep down inside she truly did not expect it to be this easy to find her answers, she figured it would take her a good while before she found anything.

Tifa could only watch, frowning deeply as she turned her attention aside. Cloud, however, glared at Yuna, blue irises glowed intensely with a mash of emotion – was it anguish? Was it disturbance? Chills ran down Yuna's spine; it was both incredible and yet intimidating.

"Please, I want to know…"  
"Ifalna's been dead for a long time now." Cloud answered. "And Aerith," he turned his back to the younger woman, immediately heading for the front entrance, "she's been dead over two years now." He didn't speak any more than that, refused to stick around any longer and just pushed through the front door and left. Silence had submerged the women in room, and a painful lump had formed at Yuna's throat, she tried to swallow it down but it only got worse.  
"I…I didn't know…"  
But Tifa only shook her head at her response, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way." There was a pause between the two women before she went on. "Did you ever actually meet Aerith and her mother before?"  
"No, I just read her mother's letters to my father; she mentioned a place called Icicle Inn? But I imagine that's further north up here." The letters mentioned Ifalna traveling up north and residing at a snowy place known as Icicle Inn, so she could only assume. "The way she wrote about my father, and the way she reached out to him – they seemed so close." Yuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, remembering of how the letters spoke of escape, a journey to seek out Braska right after her baby had been born, to continue living her life with him, her lover, Yuna, Yuna's mother, and Aerith. "I just wanted to make sure they knew."  
Through a hesitant curiosity and a small pause, Tifa piped up. "Knew about your father?"  
"That they knew he sacrificed his life for our people."

* * *

Outside, Cloud had hoisted himself up on Fenrir when he heard a young woman's voice call out to him, he turned to see the brunette from the bar hurry out, and she called him by his name even if he had failed to learn hers. "Please wait!" She ran down the steps and right toward his bike, stopping right at his sight, immediately eyeing Fenrir with a puzzled expression. "I'm sorry about what happened inside."

Tifa hadn't told the full story but Aerith had obviously been someone very special to the both of them, even more so with Cloud, even if Yuna hadn't known she still felt bad for bringing her up. But again, she hadn't been told the full story. It was as Cloud told her; it was two years ago but surely the subject had still been touchy. So would've it been alright to ask just what exactly went on? Aerith had been no older than her, only slightly but she was still dead, as was her mother. "I need you to tell me."  
"Tell you what?"  
"Tell me what happened to them." They were last connection to her father, her last hope to finding a purpose, and now they were gone.

He hadn't known just how to react, the mention of Aerith from this complete stranger, this woman who had looked no older than the rest of them had just been a shock. He didn't know exactly why, maybe he was still getting used to moving on that he had almost forgotten. But he couldn't forget, even if that meant telling the story of his memories for another person.

So his story went like this – he met a young woman in pink who often occupied the church in the slums of 'Sector 5', a section that existed in the old city called Midgar, a little west of Edge(the remains of that city had been noticeable at a distance.) But Cloud hadn't mentioned much of the history of Midgar, just that its rubble had helped built this new city, that it was the reason the grass wouldn't grow, that the area surrounding it had been reduced to nothing but dead plain. Existing within that city, in 'Sector 5', had been Aerith who had managed to grow flowers in an abandoned, broken down church. He fell through the roof during a mission of his previous mercenary days; fell upon a flowerbed of yellow and white flowers. That was his start of his journey with Aerith.  
He learned of her race – the Ancients, he learned of Shinra's pursue for her, learned through her adoptive mother that Ifalna had died when Aerith was only small child, injured during their escape with Shinra.

Yuna leaned against Cloud's bike during the entire explanation, wary at the vehicle at first, but thankful that it wasn't as dangerous as it looked to be. While he provided the explanation to Ifalna's death, he certainly hadn't provided one for Aerith's.

Cloud grew tired of talking, he felt he provided enough for the woman's curiosity to dull over; it was time for her to go. "Go home," he said, "there isn't anything for you to do here." Again, he didn't mean to come across so cold, and deep down inside he even felt bad for her. He just found this to be more reason for her to venture back to wherever she came from.  
Yuna, on the other hand, felt unsatisfied and needed to know more. The blond ignored her anyway, waved her off and got on his bike. She desperately tried to form a sentence, she wanted to plead, but her mind was terribly foggy, she still tried to comprehend just what she had heard.

Ifalna was dead, Aerith was dead – their race now officially extinct. Yuna, who was so lost, so confused, who searched for her meaning of life had been stuck once again. As she watched the blond man ride off in his vehicle, she couldn't help but to blame herself.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ she scolded herself in her mind, _how could I be so stupid?  
_ Left with no choice, she walked right back into the bar where she spent most of the day in silence. She had no plan, she hardly had any gil, and she needed to get out. Her search for a job hunt bumped up to be her top priority.

* * *

The evening had been spent with Yuna at the bar debating on the idea of ordering an alcoholic drink, she didn't want to take advantage of the 'on the house' deal too much, didn't want to over welcome her stay even though she knew no other place to go. The bar had begun to fill with bystanders from outside, and already things had grown a tad bit livelier. She apologized to Tifa, wanted to apologize to Cloud, and Tifa could only smile and assure her nothing was wrong.

Still, that guilt hung onto Yuna and it festered within her, no matter how hard she tried to think of something else, it always distracted her; though there was one subject on her mind that poked at her.  
"Can you tell me about the Cetra?"  
Tifa wasn't an expert on the subject, she knew only what she had been taught from Aerith and from what she heard back at Cosmo Canyon, which had been the place Tifa recommend after she explained what she could. But Yuna hadn't been so sure she could afford travels anymore, her plan was shot down and she knew she had to get back home. But it was real tempting.

"What I can tell you is that Aerith was …certainly different from most humans. The Ancients have a special type of power that allowed them to communicate with the planet," Tifa explained, "it's really hard to explain but that's why I'm not the best person to ask this kind of thing."

'Communicate with the planet' – Yuna's curiosity certainly had been peeked. She lived on this planet as well, and all of her life, she would've never really taken the idea that it was possible to s _peak_ with it somehow. But Tifa's details were lacking, as she said, and she would only learn more through this Cosmo Canyon town. But again, gil was short; Yuna found herself feeling downhearted again. All this effort and time had been wasted.

It was then, as Yuna manifested her own pity that two new customers arrived; one seemed loud and greeted Tifa as soon as they walked in. "Hey! We're friends, right?" The man who spoke had cherry red locks of hair tied back to a ponytail, blue eyes, and a red mark to each of his cheekbones; these were the traits that stood out most to Yuna. The man beside him had been bald, no trace of hair other than the small bits of stubble above his lips and to his chin, and he wore sunglasses despite being indoors, his ears decorated with earrings, and leather gloves to his hands. The both of them wore navy blue suits, though the redhead's suit had been more 'casual' compared to the bald man's suit, as he wore no tie, his suit jacket was open, and the white shirt underneath been untucked. Definitely something Yuna hadn't seen before.

"That depends…" Tifa replied, watching them questionably. "Are you trying to skip out on your tab?" Despite their intimidating exterior (especially toward the man with sunglasses) and the many glares they caught from the other customers, Tifa seemed to have tolerated them enough. Occasionally the redhead would turn to observe Yuna, to which she awkwardly avoided eye contact as she sat a few seats away from them at bar.  
"Don't remember seeing you around here." He spoke but didn't turn to her, his focus remained to the drink at his hand, and his friend remained silent. "I definitely don't see people dressed like that around these parts – what brings you here?" Her wardrobe seemed too 'nice', sort of like someone else he used to know…someone he used to pursue.  
"Nothing." The woman replied, mumbling and keeping her head down. Tifa, at the other side of the bar, shook her head at him, but Yuna continued to speak. "I'm not from around here."  
"That's obvious." The rim of his glass touched his lips as the redhead took a sip of his drink, Yuna responded with a scowl. "Edge is hardly a tourist spot."  
"I was looking for someone." It was clear that the redheaded male grew curious but Yuna hadn't gone any further with her explanation.  
Tifa had shaken her head once again. "Reno, please."  
It was then the redhead pulled back and taken another sip of his drink. "Alright, then…" He said, before replying with a different question. "Where are you from?"  
Yuna hesitated with her answer for a moment. "Spira."

The glass had only pressed against the lips of their lips when they heard this name. Reno's eyes scanned the young woman beside him, along with the gaze of his companion that had been hidden behind sunglasses. Now where had they heard that name before?  
"Spira?" The bald man repeated, making sure he heard right, and Yuna nodded in confirmation. The men in navy suits exchanged looks, before finally turning back to Tifa, fishing out gil from their pockets and placing it on the counter. "We gotta get going." Silently, they made a beeline for the entrance and headed right now.

Yuna and Tifa stayed behind in confusion, exchanging looks of their own, looks of worry. "They…heard of Spira before?" Yuna asked, but Tifa could only shrug.


	5. Flowers

Their headquarters weren't exactly official, the public continued to shun them for everything they've done in the past, no matter how hard Rufus tried to redeem himself others were never easy to trust them. He believed even Cloud had his own issues with the company and despite teaming up with them for a little while, Rufus knew he still hadn't fully trusted them yet. That was alright, he suspected that, he knew everyone had reason, so he couldn't blame them. But that didn't prevent him from trying at the very least. Their headquarters resided a little outside of Kalm for now, despite most of the public hating them, a few of the Turks had gone of their ways to slack off at Edge, those few being none other than Reno and Rude, and they didn't even care if others looked at them funny.

That following evening they finally returned, and usually they would go off and retire to their rooms, this time they didn't.  
"Hey boss, you ever heard of Spira?" Reno asked, Rufus sitting at his chair, with his back turned to them, the name immediately caught his attention – he's heard of it alright. "Some chick just came from there," and if Reno remembered correctly, this would be the same exact Spira he heard of years ago. "So how come she came all the way from there when they hate us so much?" Long ago, Spira had developed a rocky relationship with Gaia, or so they heard. Shinra had always been a corrupted and sly company, even in the days they set out on a journey to find Spira for the rumors of 'natural' magic wielding people, among those people had been those with 'natural' abilities to call upon summons – the summoners.  
Of course something like this would've definitely benefited Gaia, if it weren't for Spira's beliefs as well as their desperate need for the summoners.

It was then that Spira decided to cut all ties between Gaia, and they closed themselves off from the entire world. "People here grew greedy," Rufus explained, "they wanted to use summoners for their own expense." There were files around the library at Shrina Headquarters, now that all probably lied in piles of rubble or were burnt to a crisp among the rest of the ruins, but Rude and surprisingly even Reno had often browsed the writing during their visits to the library. Some were strictly confidential, even to their eyes, others were easily obtainable.

From what he remembered, it wasn't at all something he really paid much attention to, just like most of the files and writing in the library, but it had held his attention for a while. Natural magic wielding people who mastered this technique without the usage of materia, a group of people with the ability to call on summons without the use of materia – sometimes even all at once. These people were heavily connected with the summons; they were experts at handling them. How the summons had been contained in materia had been a mystery and often left questions buzzing around – were they the same that the summoners from Spira had? Another statement that caught the eyes of the Turks had been the rumor that summoners had the ability to 'communicate with the Lifestream' as well as banish those who have yet to return to the planet. Sounded a little too familiar with the Cetra to ever be a coincidence.

But the subject was put off, no one had ever been to this Spira, and other employees fed off these stories and rumors, making up different alterations, speaking of 'humans who still held onto the ability to wield magic', and an old time favorite, that there were possibly more Cetra in the world.

No, it was stupid, it was bullshit, and that's why the Turks chose to ignore this but to hear the name of that continent from the mouth of a woman who claims to come from there, it was all too…mind boggling, even for Reno.  
"I thought the Ancients were extinct."  
"They aren't Ancients," Rufus answered. "But they're similar. The summoners and mages are believed to be humans that somehow still held onto their abilities, or…maybe they simply learned to wield them again." Had it been possible that one could learn to something as complicated as the magic of the Ancients? It sounded far too good to be true.

Rufus, having recovered from his Geostigma and now on the path of rebuilding Shinra in a new light and a fresh start, sat at his desk, his chair wheeled back to face the window. He still didn't turn to face the Turks yet. "Now what were you saying about this girl?"

"The girl…" Rude explained. "She claims she's from there." That was all he said though – never the talker, that Rude, and he just repeated what Reno first said. But it still captured Rufus' attention.  
Now why would anyone from Spira ever explore to Gaia when they vowed to never have anything to do with them? Far too many possibilities bloomed in the blond's mind and he was left pondering heavily on what the reason might be.  
"This girl…you get a good look at her?"

* * *

She yawned to her hand, didn't bother with unpacking as she flopped onto the inn's bed for the entire night. Her body ached, her mentality and emotions suffered greatly and all she wanted to do was sleep everything away. Tomorrow she would begin her job hunt and set her plans to travel back home. It wouldn't be easy but she had no other choice. "Oh well…" Yuna whispered to herself as she lied on her stomach, fingers gripping around the fabric of the sheets. It was probably hopeless from the start. This terrible feeling of dread and loss continued to cling to her, she never felt so _lost_ before. But it wouldn't be too bad, right? She could go back home, become the priestess everyone wanted her to be and live a good life helping others and guiding them to the right paths in life. She could babysit Vidina and watch him grow up, revisit old places, hang out with old friends, relax, be at peace, and that would be _just fine._

This silly burst of searching was simply a mistake and now she had to pay for them. Lesson learned. The weight on her chest lifted, if slightly, she felt a little better now. With her new found optimism, she would approach the new day and set out for her short term goal. Already she felt like she could do this.

* * *

Four deliveries in one day, two for residents at Edge, two for residents at Kalm, and he still had more to go, but Cloud earned himself a break at least. He thought about traveling back to Tifa's bar and ordering himself a drink, or simply ride out to the grassy plains and enjoying the sunlight once more before it disappeared, he also felt a little hungry. But there was one place he could go to, a very special place.

Just as his decision had been made he came across a familiar looking face, the brunette with the pair of mismatched colored eyes had looked toward the shoe store in front of her, though she didn't seem that all interested in the pairs of shoes at the display window. Just in, as she sensed his presence, she turned back to be face to face with Cloud, greeting him with a friendly smile. "Cloud!"

Cloud greeted back with a nod, and though he didn't smile, he tried not to look so cold either. "Hey." The woman approached him, her hands behind her back, her attention averting to the concrete.  
"I'm…taking your advice, I'm going home." She said.  
"Oh?" And yet Cloud still felt slightly surprised, maybe even a bit disappointed; the young woman hardly put up a fight, she was so easy to give up… No, no, he gave her the advice in the first place.  
"Yeah, I'm looking for a job right now…" The woman twiddled with her fingers behind her back, looking back to the shoe store. "I need enough gil to go back."

A moment of silence passed them, bits of guilt built from the pit of Cloud's stomach, the possibility of being a little harsh on her passed through his mind. Then the girl broke the silence. "Oh, I never did introduce myself, did I?" Not properly, at least. "I'm Yuna, pleased to meet you." There was no need for introduction on Cloud's part as she already addressed with him his name many times before; nonetheless, he nodded once more in confirmation, turning his attention to the shoe store. "You're working here?"  
"Huh? Oh! No, I was just about to go in and look." Yuna kept her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels to her toes. "Are you working right now?"  
"Yeah…I was just about to take my break." Cloud immediately turned to head off; Yuna followed right alongside.  
"Do you need any help?"  
"Uh, no, sorry." At least it was worth a shot.  
"Alright," Yuna decided to pry to further on the subject. "You know, I could use a break too. Why don't I join you?"

This really wasn't something he would normally do with someone else, this was a peculiar place only reserved for him, the very place that still stood even after the destruction of Midgar. But he was sure Tifa would just tell her where he was later on if Yuna decided to visit her again. "So you're taking a break from looking for a job." He figured it wasn't that all too hard to find a job, especially in a place like Edge, but the woman seemed eager. Still, part of Cloud debated heavily on whichever or not this was a good idea. His place hadn't been all uncommon, sometimes even the cured children would sneak out and play there, and he'd often catch them during his visits…

Then there was Aerith, whose memory kept creeping back into his mind, even more now that Yuna was here. All that was left of her—spread out, gone, or rare to find, except…

"If you insist, let's go."

* * *

Fenrir scared her, it was obvious and the foreign woman didn't try to hide it. She was hesitant to sit on the seat, even more hesitant when Cloud instructed her to hold on tightly to him; she did nonetheless, and blushed too. It was just a ride, a quick ride to their destination; that was all they needed. Once the vehicle rumbled beneath her, she gave out a squeak – it…actually felt pretty good. Cloud took off at a leisurely pace at first, to wave through the civilians walking amongst the streets of Edge; it gave Yuna enough time to get used to the ride – nothing dangerous, nothing different from the machina she had ridden back at Spira.

The speed didn't pick up till after they got out of Edge though, it was then Yuna truly held on tightly, burying her face to Cloud's back, breathing in his scent. She smelled hints of grass, earth, and flowers, not at all a dirty smell, a smell connected to nature, a smell that indicated his travels.

With her mind distracted on Cloud's scent and the rumbling of the vehicle, she hadn't noticed how close they came to their destination. As they passed through piles of rubble, run down and broken buildings, loose hanging wires and were under shadows of huge piles of metal did Yuna notice that they were arriving at the ruins of Midgar.

This is where they were going; this was the one place that brought Cloud comfort through the entire aftermath of the Meteor destruction, and after facing his greatest enemy. Nothing but piles and piles of ash, metal, and other materials decorated what were once streets, all but one barely standing, strange, 'pointy' looking building with large beautiful windows of stained glass, part of its roof broken off and craved in, along with chunk of its wall. A church, it was Sector 5's church, and most importantly, it was _her_ church. Yuna only heard about this from Cloud's story, but never imagined she would actually be visiting it. It was so breathtaking and amazing, even if it was worn out and destroyed like the rest of this old city.

"We're here...I can't believe we're here." She said. "Are you sure you want me here? Is it okay?" Cloud simply urged her to proceed on and follow him inside.

The healing water that had once formed a deep pond by where the flowerbed had been evaporated entirely, or rather, soaked in with the rest of the surrounding earth and produced beautiful, bright yellow and white flowers. The water had only made the flowers bloom more wonderfully than ever, and more grew beyond that spot in the middle, upon the earth that poked out from broken floorboards. To Yuna, they resembled lilies, but as she stepped further into the sunlight that shone in from the large, gaping hole of the ceiling, she knew, she _felt_ how different everything had been.

_This place is special._

"You met her here, right?" Yuna recalled bits and pieces of Cloud's story – Aerith, the slum's flower girl, and these flowers were her symbol. "I'm glad you brought me here."

Cloud watched as the brunette slumped to the ground, and gently pawed at the flowers; the petals were soft to her touch. She wondered if it would be alright to pick one off the ground, to wear it in her hair or to take it back with her, but she was too afraid to yank it, out of fear she might end up destroying the flower on accident. Fingertips continued to brush at the petals, the sunshine rained its energy down on her and the plants.  
"Back then…" Cloud began; he casually stayed behind, watching the young woman examine the flowerbed. "I used to come here a lot after she died." He left out details of his sickness, that wasn't important, not anymore. "It's different here."  
"I can tell." It was then Yuna had to sigh as she leaned closer to the flowerbed. Rather than waste her time in this rundown building, she should be looking for a job! She knew this, but she didn't want to leave. A break wasn't a bad thing, she would get back to it, and she knew she would. "These flowers, this soil…you said that Midgar's land had been sucked of all its life, so how is it that these flowers have no problem growing?"  
"Dunno. It's a mystery but they always grew here, Aerith grew them herself." And they continued growing.  
"Yes that's right and she sold them too." It was a great idea, to sell flowers among an environment that shared none, toward people who lived in a polluted city their whole lives, so that even they can share in the beauty of it. Then it came to her, it clicked and her mood brightened at her sudden idea. It wasn't crazy, it was…right, it had to work!

"I'll sell these flowers." She said, her lips pulling up to a gleeful grin; she turned to Cloud, shining with optimism. "I'll take care of these flowers; I'll sell them, just like she used to do." Edge was dull and gray enough as it was, she was sure some citizens wouldn't mind flowers living up things a bit. "With this, I'll make enough gil to go home!"

It wasn't a terrible plan, but it wasn't one that would have her rolling in gil to be exact; Cloud knew this, but he didn't discourage her. To have another flower girl…would Aerith want this? Yes, he was positive she would.  
"I want you to help me."  
"Huh?"  
"You deliver, right? That means it will be easier to hand flowers out if I had someone like you helping me."  
"You're asking me to help…?"  
"Oh, right. Would you like half of what I gain?"  
"No, no, I can't…" The young woman clearly thought far too ahead of herself, he hadn't even agreed to anything yet. "You need that gil."  
"But you can help me!"

Light bickering proceeded, Yuna continued insisting, and Cloud continued refusing. She didn't need this, but she wanted to try it, Cloud didn't want her profits, but she didn't want him to work for free, so he insisted he didn't work for her at all. It grew to a cycle.

Argument aside, the thought of another woman coming here to take care of the flowers, he didn't know how to feel about it, but he certainly didn't mind.

"I want to do this," Yuna explained. "I want to continue what she did." She grew determined and there was nothing stopping her now.  
Just as Cloud sighed, just as he was about to agree with the young woman as he truly didn't think of it as a bad idea, the doors to the church pushed open.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" That familiar, cocky tone reached his ears once more; it's been a while, but he recognized it any time. Why, of all times, was he here? Why were _they_ here? The pair turned to be greeted to just what Cloud expected – the sight of two males in their navy blue suits, Reno and Rude. "This is a pleasant surprise, didn't expect to see you here." Reno's attention had been fixed right on to the two, it was hard to tell just who he spoke to. "Or maybe I was expecting you here."

"What are you doing here?" Cloud responded curtly.

Reno's attention turned right to Yuna. "Business."


End file.
